U.S. oil inventories still growing, Energy Department says

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The amount of crudeoil in storage in the U.S. continues to grow more than expected, with another 1.1 million barrels added to commercial crude inventories during the past week, according to new Energy Department data.

Now that the busiest part of summer driving season is past, American refineries are demanding less crudeoil so more of it is sitting in storage. With refineries slowing their production levels, however, the amounts of refined gasoline and other fuel products in storage are beginning to fall.

“U.S. crudeoil inventories are at historically high levels for this time of year,” the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday in its weekly recap. “Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 2.8 million barrels last week, but are well above the upper limit of the average range.”

The amount of commercial crude in storage jumped to 523.6 million barrels from 522.5 million barrels. Gasoline stocks fell to 235.4 million barrels from 238.2 million. Overall U.S. stockpiles, excluding the strategic petroleum reserve, grew by 2.5 million barrels to 1.39 billion barrels. That includes increases in propane, propylene and other oils.

After briefly dropping under $40 a barrel last week, U.S. oil prices had begun to rebound, even rising above $43 this week. But Wednesday’s inventory news quickly sent prices closer to $42.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.